Snake Shepherd Tiya (2-in-1)

Under Bai Xiaowen's command, the summoned creatures fully demonstrated their potential as a demolition team.

The Skeleton Sword-and-Shield Soldier cleaved through the bushes blocking the cave entrance with his iron blade. Then, the Butcher swung his thick arm, and the rocks blocking the entrance collapsed and rolled to the side.

"This cave shows signs of being artificially carved," the Old Demon said with certainty after a brief examination. "Judging from the carving marks, it's been there for about several months."

Bai Xiaowen nodded. For safety's sake, he first summoned the Shadow Assassin, who entered Stealth mode and led the way to scout ahead. He and the Old Demon, on the other hand, led the other summoned creatures, following a hundred meters behind.

The cave was deep and winding. After walking a hundred meters or so into the depths, the Old Demon supplemented his previous judgment: the cave was naturally formed, but had been widened and sculpted by humans in the later stages.

Bai Xiaowen also agreed with his view.

The cave was empty; they hadn't encountered any monsters along the way.

After lighting their torches, the two saw some stone carvings and murals along the way.

A deity with an eagle's head and a human body, topped with a golden disc, is shown kneeling in devout service to the deity, along with some animals such as pigs and geese.

Judging from the painting style, these murals cannot be called works of art; they are more like some kind of graffiti. Obviously, the artist put a lot of effort into them, but the painting skill is probably worse than Bai Xiaowen's.

"What's the origin of these murals? Can you tell?" the Old Demon asked.

Bai Xiaowen, holding a torch, scanned the murals and said, "It's definitely from abroad... It has a style reminiscent of ancient Central Asian and Arabia ruins. We can study it slowly when we get back."

Bai Xiaowen kept the Psionic Camera on the whole time, recording the entire process of exploring the cave.

The two stood in front of the mural for a long time, but still couldn't find any special clues, and could only conclude that it was an ordinary mural.

Suddenly, Bai Xiaowen exclaimed, "Huh? The scout Shadow Assassin has been... killed!"

"What monster did this?" the Old Demon asked.

"The time was too short. When I switched my view, I only saw a snake-shaped black shadow... It should be a python?" Bai Xiaowen was a little uncertain.

Old Demon was a little unsettled. "They took down the Shadow Assassin so quickly?" Old Demon knew that the Shadow Assassin had a racial skill that reduced physical damage by 50%.

Bai Xiaowen checked the battle log.

"The Desert King Python has initiated a Devour attack on your summoned creature: Shadow Assassin. Size determination in progress... Determination successful!"

"Your summoned creature, Shadow Assassin, has taken 122 points of acid damage."

"Your summoned creature, Shadow Assassin, has taken 126 points of acid damage (48 points of overkill damage). Shadow Assassin is dead."

Bai Xiaowen showed the battle log to Old Demon.

"No wonder, it was swallowed by a python. Acid damage is a type of magical damage, so your assassin will suffer an additional 50%," the Old Demon nodded and said. "However... even so, that python is no ordinary monster, and there might be a humanoid boss in this cave... we still need to be careful."

"I understand... and there's one more thing to add: there's definitely a humanoid BOSS, and it's the type with Mental Specialty," Bai Xiaowen said. "The Shadow Assassin is completely invisible, so to catch it while it's invisible, you'll definitely need Mental Scan abilities..."

Bai Xiaowen glanced at his left wrist, confirming once again that the danger in the cave was a "moderate threat," and continued, "Given the presence of the python, we can further deduce... that the other party is probably a summoner, just like me."

The Old Demon nodded. Seeing that Bai Xiaowen had no intention of turning back, he stopped trying to persuade him and followed Bai Xiaowen forward.

The Old Demon's group stealth skill [Refractive Barrier] has a total priority of 6 points, while the Mental Scan of a Mental Specialty BOSS has a base priority of 4 points. As long as the BOSS does not have a dedicated Spirit Detection skill, it is impossible to detect the Old Demon's stealth.

This was also the source of Old Demon's confidence; he felt that even if something unexpected happened, he could still run away with Bai Xiaowen...

"This is where the Shadow Assassin was ambushed..." Bai Xiaowen shook his head. "There's no trace of the python. It seems..."

Hiss!

With a hiss, a giant python as thick as a water bucket suddenly leaped down from the top of the cave, its foul-smelling mouth opening wide as it lunged at Bai Xiaowen!

Bai Xiaowen swallowed the rest of his sentence. He took a step back, and the Butcher next to him stepped forward to block him.

The python's ability to devour an animal depends on the size of the target. It would be a miracle if it could successfully devour a Roshan like Butcher.

Bai Xiaowen suddenly raised his hand, and three Skeleton Sword-and-Shield Soldier surrounded the giant python in a triangular formation, raising their iron swords and hacking wildly.

The giant python looked terrifying, but after Insight, Bai Xiaowen discovered that it was only at the level of Elite Tier level 7, barely managing to kill the Shadow Assassin in an instant. It was entirely due to the surprise attack and the restraining effect.

However, there was more than one python in the cave. Soon, hissing sounds came from within, and two more pythons slithered in.

"Do you need my help?" the Old Demon asked cautiously.

"No need!" Bai Xiaowen raised his hand, Skeleton Champion swung his greatsword, unleashing Whirlwind Slash Charge intercepted one of the pythons; Kitz led two Skeleton Sword-and-Shield Soldier to rush forward and intercept the third.

The python that started was rapidly losing Life Value as it was attacked by Fatty and the three Skeleton Sword-and-Shield Soldier.

With Bai Xiaowen on guard, it was impossible for the three pythons to successfully devour their prey again. Under Bai Xiaowen's control, the summoned creatures moved quite skillfully, and the devouring skill could not hit the target, so of course it would not trigger the judgment.

A low, rhythmic sound came from the depths of the cave. From the crevices in the rocks, tiny snakes, as thick as fingers, crawled out.

"They're rattlesnakes outside the cave...there seem to be quite a few of them. They appear to be being controlled by someone!" the Old Demon said.

Bai Xiaowen squinted and nodded slightly, his eyes shooting towards the side of a rock. "Finally couldn't hold back any longer... Get out here!"

Crack!

In the dark cave, a bolt of lightning struck down with a deafening roar. The long-awaited Bone Warlock raised his hand and unleashed a Lightning Strike.

With a cold snort, a person dressed in a white, form-fitting robe and wearing a felt hat appeared.

By the light of the torch, one could see that he was a dark-skinned man with a beard, his face full of anger, shouting a string of gibberish.

"What is he saying?" Bai Xiaowen was taken aback, not understanding...

The Old Demon shook his head. "It shouldn't be Old Latin; it sounds like Arabia language..."

Bai Xiaowen quickly offered his Insight.

[Tiya (Level 7 Boss Tier)]

[Race: Human Species / Human Race]

[Class: Snake Shepherd Priest]

[Attributes: Strength 25, Agility 28, Constitution 36, Spirit 70]

[Skill 1: Snake Rhythm: Passive, Tiya plays a serpent flute, which can control the actions of serpentine creatures within a medium range (Spirit * 10, unit: meters). The stronger the target serpent, the weaker the control effect.]

[Skill 2: Symbiotic Giant Python Symbiosis: Passive. Tiya and the three giant pythons he lives with are in a life-bound state, sharing Life Value. Vital Strike of any one of them will not trigger an instant kill effect, but will only reduce the target's current Life Value. If any python exceeds the effective distance (Spirit * 20, unit: meters) from Tiya, the life-bound relationship with that python will be broken.]

[Skill 3: Bewitching Drum: Tiya strikes the snake drum, emitting a confusing drumbeat towards all enemies in a small area. Targeted enemies must pass an overall attribute check, or they will be temporarily confused.]

[Skill 4:???]

[Skill 5: Edjo's Gift LV2: Increases Life Value by 400 points, reduces the duration of abnormal status and control effects by 40%.]

"As expected, he's a summoner-type boss..."

Seeing the Giant Python Symbiosis, which is quite similar to Life Sharing, and that this BOSS Tiya is actually bound to three giant pythons, making her even less afraid of Decapitation tactics.

Like Bai Xiaowen, who is bound to the Rageclaw as a target with Life Sharing, their combined Life Value are 540, making them a nemesis of Decapitation tactics. However, it cannot be ruled out that the opponent could concentrate their maximum firepower on Bai Xiaowen in a short period of time, depleting all 540 Life Value.

Ultimately, 540 Life Value is only the health of a level 7 Boss Tier, and that's only for squishy bosses that aren't tanky.

With the combined Life Value of Tiya and the three giant serpents, plus the LV2 effect of the universal BOSS skill "Edjo's Gift," their total health probably soars to over 1500 points, making them a truly troublesome target for any Decapitation tactic.

"However... what is the strongest point is also the weakest point. Since you've bound all three giant pythons together, there's no point in using any Decapitation tactics. They'll just take out your pythons along with you, which is equivalent to reducing your Life Value..."

Bai Xiaowen quickly changed tactics, summoning creatures to change formation. Two Skeleton Sword-and-Shield Soldier and Skeleton Champion together kept an eye on Tiya, while the other creatures divided and surrounded the three giant pythons.

Bai Xiaowen held the gun with both hands and activated the Desert Eagle's Rapid-Fire Mode. He was aiming at one of the giant pythons.

Bullets rained down.

The Old Demon's eyes widened.

Even while in combat, he could see the giant python's Life Value bar, and he could clearly see how much damage Bai Xiaowen dealt with each shot. The giant python's seemingly thick health bar was actually dropping at a visible rate!

"When did Summoner Class classes start dealing such powerful damage?"

The Old Demon sighed, then began to clear away the small Desert Rattlesnake that were crawling towards him.

These small rattlesnakes are a headache for many single-target damage dealers, but it's different for Old Demon, a spellcaster-type support. He simply used his Flash skill, with the enhanced effect "Radiant Burst," to clear out an area of rattlesnakes. As for the few remaining rattlesnakes, Old Demon's crossbow was no pushover either.

Regardless of whether the monster was killed by the Old Demon, as long as it is within the Butcher's melee range, the Slaughterhouse passive effect can be stacked. The Old Demon also knew this, and deliberately lured the snake swarm to the Butcher before attacking, which was quite well done.

As for the BOSS Tiya, under the onslaught of summoned creatures, her flute music was intermittent, and she was unable to control the swarm of snakes to launch any decent offensive.

In his haste, Tiya suddenly struck the snake drum at his waist.

Thump, thump thump...

The deep, resonant sound of drums echoed through the dark cave.

The Bewitching Drum" skill is activated. All enemies within ten meters of Tiya are affected by the drumbeats and must perform an all-attribute check!

Bai Xiaowen's summoned creatures are not included in this list.

This kind of deceptive effect involves contesting control of the creature with the summoner; it's a battle between the caster and the opposing summoner. If you win, it's "what's yours is mine, and what's mine is still mine"... Of course, this is only a temporary deceptive effect; control will return after a while.

Bai Xiaowen received a hint:

"The Snake Shepherd Priest Tiya has activated the Bewitching Drum. All attribute checks in progress..."

"Unknown factors have interfered, causing the Bewitching Drum to fail! Tiya will be stunned for 8 seconds, and this stun effect is not mitigated by resilience skills."

For a fleeting moment, a faint red light flashed in Bai Xiaowen's left eye, but it disappeared almost instantly. He immediately raised his hand to cover his throbbing left eye.

For a moment, the Old Demon felt disoriented, as if hallucinations were unfolding before his eyes. He clutched his head and said, "This BOSS has incredibly powerful control..."

Fortunately, Bai Xiaowen's left eye, the Eye of Evolution, stunned the BOSS, allowing the Old Demon to instantly escape his confused state.

"Okay... all things considered, the Eye of Evolution truly is the nemesis of confusion-type skills..."

Hard crowd control such as stunning or paralysis won't trigger the backlash of the Eye of Evolution. But confusing crowd control is the Eye of Evolution's Achilles' heel... Bai Xiaowen also couldn't understand the reflection principle of the Eye of Evolution.

Without the Eye of Evolution, Bai Xiaowen might still have fallen into a state of confusion, after all, the opponent was a level 7 BOSS with significantly higher overall attributes than him. Of course, Bai Xiaowen had the passive skill of Heart of Sincerity, which could reduce the duration of control effects by a large margin, so he wasn't afraid of being overturned in that short time.

Taking advantage of the eight seconds that Tiya was stunned, Bai Xiaowen and his summoned creatures intensified their attacks, quickly crippling Tiya and the three giant pythons.

Tiya, having recovered from her dizziness, seemed to have lost the will to fight. She cried out incoherently, knelt on one knee, and bowed her head towards the void, making some kind of peculiar gesture of respect...

What's going on?

Bai Xiaowen frowned. Unable to communicate due to the language barrier, he had no way to ask. However, the three giant pythons' counterattacks continued unabated, and Bai Xiaowen couldn't stop either, directly killing Tiya, who shared his life, and the giant pythons.

This was probably the most inexplicable boss Bai Xiaowen had ever fought.

Tiya increased the Butcher's maximum Life Value by 30 points and also gave Bai Xiaowen 7000 Psionic Points, without any reduction. This shows that the Spirit Realm Rules recognize Bai Xiaowen's Kill Contribution.

A Large Golden Treasure Chest materialized above Tiya's corpse.

The Old Demon finally came to his senses. "A level 7 Boss Tier, and you took it down all by yourself... You're only level 5, right? It's unbelievable..."

"Hmm, I'm level 6 now..." Bai Xiaowen looked at the notification from the Spirit Realm that had just arrived, "Or rather, level 5 with 100% experience, I can enter the Spirit Realm to level up at any time."

That's all for today, two-in-one. Time to get some rest. Everyone, go to bed early too~ pat pat